Thursday, January 23, 2014

Indie Authors Naked explores and defines the world of independent publishing.

Comprised of a series of essays and interviews by indie authors, booksellers and publishers, readers will get a look at the many aspects of the indie community, where publishing professionals of all types come together with the simple goal of creating something unique; something that speaks directly to the reader, no middleman necessary.

Loren Kleinman is a writer and poet with roots in
New Jersey. She has a B.A. in English Literature from Drew University
and an M.A. in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of
Sussex. Kleinman is a columnist for IndieReader.com (IR) where she
interviews New York Times and USA Today bestselling indie authors. Some
of those interviews in IR reappeared in USA Today and The Huffington
Post.

Her poetry has appeared in literary journals such as Nimrod, Journal
of New Jersey Poets, Paterson Literary Review, Wilderness House Literary
Review, Writer’s Bloc, Resurgence (UK), HerCircleEzine and Aesthetica
Annual. She was the recipient of the Spire Press Poetry Prize (2003),
was a 2000 and 2003 Pushcart Prize nominee, and a 2004 Nimrod/Pablo
Neruda Poetry Prize finalist. In 2003, Spire Press published her first
collection of poetry Flamenco Sketches, which explored the relationship
between love and jazz.

Her second collection of poetry, The Dark Cave Between My Ribs, is due
to release with Winter Goose Publishing in March 2014. She is currently
working on a New Adult romance, This Way to Forever.

Amy Holman Edelman launched IndieReader, the
essential consumer guide to self-published books and the people who
write them, way back in 2007. Since then, indie authors have stormed the
bestseller lists, been courted by trad publishers and (after all that),
finally gained a modicum of respect.

Amy self-published her first book, The Fashion Resource Directory, back
in the 80s, long before POD and Amazon and e-readers roamed the land.
Her second and third books (The Little Black Dress and Manless in
Montclair), were traditionally published (by Simon & Schuster and
Shaye Areheart Books, an imprint of Crown).

As an author and a publicist with over 20 years’ experience, Amy’s goal
for IndieReader is no less than to make indie a respected and desirable
category within the publishing world. This book is just one step in that
direction.

IndieReader was launched in ‘07, otherwise known as the dark days of
self-publishing. Back then, every book was considered a vanity
publication, every author a failed writer. Denial ran so high that when
the self-pubbed book, Her Last Letter by Nancy C. Johnson hit The New
York Times bestseller list, the good folks at the NYT were still saying
that they’d never include one! And then there was The Shack, another
indie that snuck through the gauntlet to appear on the NYTimes list for
an astounding 172 weeks between June 2008 to early 2010 (52 of those
weeks at #1).

Flash forward to 2012-2013. With the advent of ebooks, the publishing
landscape has completely and irrevocably changed. Bowker, the ISBN
people, recently reported that the number of self-published books in
2012 rose 59% over 2011, growing to over 391,000 titles in 2012. That’s a
lot of indie.

But it’s not just availability that has changed the notion of what a
self-pubbed book can be. Either the whole “vanity” thing was propaganda
on the part of trad publishing—after all, Virginia Woolf famously did it
with Hogarth Press—or publishing ebooks makes it easier for talented
writers to get their work seen. Either way, over the last couple of
years—beginning with the high-profile snagging of Amanda Hocking—at
least 50 indie authors (many of them interviewed in this very book) have
been courted and won by traditional publishers.

Did these authors’ books change from when they were self-pubbed to
when they became trads? Or did their appearance on the bonafide
bestseller lists (The New York Times, USA Today) just make it easier for
the Big 5 to spot them? Not that getting picked up by a traditional
publisher is always an indie author’s end-game. In fact, a recent survey
conducted by The Bookseller noted that only about one-third of the
self-published authors surveyed stated that they would consider a
traditional book deal. That’s a lot of authors who aren’t willing to
trade the freedom of creation for the chance to have their works
packaged by committee.

So whether an author decides to sell their work to a trad publisher
or not—it is clear that indies are here to stay. Their books resonate
with readers who really couldn’t give a damn if they came through the
hallowed halls of a traditional publisher or just via their ereaders.
The indie writing community is strong and getting stronger, as are the
options for placing their books (been to your local bookstore lately?
You may be surprised at the titles you find on the shelves).

Yes, dear readers, this time—thanks to technology and changing
perceptions—self-publishing is clearly here to stay. And via interviews
and essays, Indie Authors Naked aims to highlight the best of the best.

BookBlast Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 2/10/14

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an
Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified
prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or
older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be
chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will
have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway
is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any
other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries
received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy
from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.